


red white and green

by onthelasttrain



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Family, Gen, Generational Divide, briar rose is a boomer, but not enough to warrant putting it in the tag, emma swan is a great mum, i fudged the timeline a little (a lot), its like blink and you'll miss it, look if the writers don't care about the timeline how can you expect me to?, mentions of captain swan beauty ot3, the writer vs the fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:07:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22401547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onthelasttrain/pseuds/onthelasttrain
Summary: “Just…” She sighs again, loud and wistful, letting the whole dinner be aware of her pain. “That Hope didn’t inherit your lovely blonde hair.”Oh yippie, Emma thinks. We’re doing this bullshit again.Or, Emma has a run-in with Briar Rose, who has some choice words about  her daughter's appearance.
Relationships: Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan, Emma Swan & Hope Swan-Jones
Comments: 7
Kudos: 40





	red white and green

**Author's Note:**

> I want to preface that I'm not anti "blonde haired blue eyed Hope". I'm just pro-other combinations for her.
> 
> Also this is kind of set in my universe where Belle moved in with Emma and KIllian after the final battle, is in a polyamorous relationship with them, Gideon is basically Hope's brother, Emma's brother is called Lucas, not Neal, and there's no s7, or at the very least it didn't happen exactly as it did in canon.

“It’s a shame, isn’t it?” Emma looks up to see Briar Rose, the mother of Aurora, grandmother of Philip Jr, standing next to her, looking at something with such sad eyes that you’d think someone just put her daughter under a sleeping curse. Again.

“What is?” she asks, taking a glance at the counter. Killian’s much better at conversing with royals than she is, unfortunately for her he’s off getting her another drink at this precise moment and leaves her on her own. The asshole.

“Just…” She sighs again, loud and wistful, letting the whole dinner be aware of her pain. “That Hope didn’t inherit your lovely blonde hair.”

 _Oh yippie_ , Emma thinks. _We’re doing this bullshit again._

The moment Emma announced she was pregnant with Hope, the parents (and grandparents mostly) of Storybrooke were teeming with excitement, as was everyone else, but they were mostly concerned with one thing-the baby’s looks. Emma never understood it, not even when Snow explained that back in the Enchanted Forest, a royal family’s looks became something of a staple. With no photography around, subjects tended to memorise every detail of their monarchy with certain features becoming quite, well, iconic. For Snow’s family it was the long dark hair and pale skin (she refuses to say “skin as pale as snow”). It became not only expected, but unofficially mandatory that children take their parents’ most distinguished features. Snow had told Emma in hushed tones stories of Kings and Queens who dyed their newborn’s hair or used eye drops to change their eye colour, more often than not yielding terrible results for the baby. Snow had clutched her hand, her own eyes wide with terror, and swore to Emma she’d have never, ever done that to her even if she had grown up in the Enchanted Forest. Besides, she had said with a smile, squeezing her chin softly, you did get the family chin.

But all that meant that before Hope had even formed any features, the older generations of Storybrooke had decided she’d have her parents’ most noticeable features-Emma’s long blonde hair and Killian’s ocean blue eyes. Emma could hardly go anywhere without someone gushing about how gorgeous the baby would look, how blonde hair and blue eyes is such a wonderful, lovely combination, the perfect mix of her and Killian. Emma never understood the obsession with the idea of children being some sort of clone of their parents. She had smiled and nodded, passive-aggressively saying mentioning that black hair and green eyes would be lovely too, and sharply ending the conversation with “but as long as she’s healthy and happy, she can be bald for all I care”. The smiles dipped a little every time she said that.

“I mean… it’s not that the red hair isn’t very becoming,” Rose goes on. “Especially with her fair skin. I expect she got that from her grandmother.” Emma presses her fist into her palm, knowing that if she didn’t she’d most likely end up punching the old lady in the face. “But… it is a shame to have such lovely genetics go to waste.” Emma feels the old woman’s hand suddenly run through her hair like she’s a dog and bites back a yelp. Briar doesn’t seem to notice, idly smiling down at her. “Still, there’s always the next one.”

“Yeah, we don’t think we’re going to have any more,” she says bluntly. “Hope is plenty for us. And she does have Henry. And Gideon as well.” Emma looks over at the kids’ table, where Hope and Gideon engage in a carefully strategic game of Jenga, Melody nestled into her daughter’s side, Robin, Philip and her brother Lucas on Gideon’s, and Alex next to Hope, whispering advice in her ear, just to make things fairer. Emma had thought that, with Hope now 15 years old and a sophmore in high school, people would realise that the baby factory has closed down.

“Indeed.” Briar doesn’t bother hiding her uncomfortable tone and Emma hides a giggle under her hand. She knows her, Killian and Belle’s relationship is unorthodox in Storybrooke, and Hope and Gideon running around together for the past fifteen years has been a constant reminder of that. ““At least Hope has your eyes.”

 _You bitter?_ she thinks but doesn’t ask. At Philip Jr’s third birthday party, Briar Rose made little to no effort to conceal her disappointment at how he had inherited his father’s hazel eyes and not his mother’s (and grandmother’s) bright blue ones, as well as his dad’s dark hair. She even went as far as to scold poor Aurora for it as though it was her fault, only backing down when Maleficent showed up next to her.

That was a historic day; Princess Aurora thanking Maleficent for saving her, and then doing shots with her.

“But even with those Charming eyes….” Rose sighs. The urge to punch something rises in Emma again and it’s either going to be the wall or Rose. “Well, you have to admit the red hair is a little… unusual.”

“It’s from Killian’s mother,” she says sharply, making Rose jump. She adds on a broad smile to keep feigning civility. “His mother Ailis.”

“Indeed,” Rose squeaks. “I just mean… well it’s a pity that she didn’t take anything from him directly. With no picture of his mother… You’d hardly think she’s the Captain’s daughter at all.”

“Oh, she’s not,” Emma replies bluntly. “I had a wild and steamy affair with Jimminy Cricket. She’s his. That’s where the red hair comes from.” Consider her limit reached

And it’s Briar Roses’ bulging eyes and the way she chokes on her wine that make everything so, so worth it.

“Is that so, Swan?” Killian asks, sliding in next to her with a gin and lemonade for her and a Coke for himself. “Well that makes me feel so much less bad about my dalliance with Tink.” Briar’s gasp can be heard around the diner, so much so that even the kids at the opposite end look up to see what’s happening. Poor Philip’s face flushes as pink as his grandma’s jacket.

The silence only breaks when Emma and Killian can no longer hold back their laughter, and Briar laughs along with them, fruity and full but also as fake as the nails on her hand. 

“Oh, yes, how funny,” she says, clearing her throat. “Well, I should check in on my own daughter.” She pats the table stiffly, nodding at the both of them. “Take care now.”

“Always,” Killian answers,regarding her with his bottle. Emma leans back in the booth, downing much of her drink and hoping the alcohol numbs her pain. “You are bold, Swan.

“Yeah well,” Emma shrugs, looking across the diner. She sees Aurora clutching her jacket and speaking in hushed, furious tones with her mother, and Emma’s heart breaks a little. “She’s probably getting Aurora to ban Phil from ever hanging out with Hope again. Or Gideon, probably.”

“Well, when does that boy ever listen to his parents,” Killian says. Emma nods and looks over at Hope, her brow furrowed in concentration, the dyed purple tips of her hair catching in the light.

She meant what she had said when she was pregnant; Hope could be bald and Emma couldn’t give one single shred of a damn, not as long as she’s Hope.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave comments and kudos... maybe?
> 
> Also fun fact: the name I gave Killian's mother, Ailis (pronounced Ay-lish) is an Irish variation of Alice (his canon mum's name). Because I am myself, obnoxiously Irish.


End file.
